A Lynx bandwagon? Get in line.

February 10, 2010 - Per Peterson

After reading this, you might be wondering to yourself: What the hell is he writing about the Minnesota Lynx for? No offense to female basketball players, but the Lynx aren’t exactly the most popular pro team in the state. They have plenty of competition for that: Vikings, Twins, Wild, etc. During the summer — when the WNBA season is going — it’s all Twins in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. But when you think about it, the Lynx might just provide the state with its best shot at a championship this year. The Vikings have already blown it, the Wild will be lucky if they even get into the playoffs, the Timberwolves are headed for another lottery pick and the Twins, regardless of how much money they’ve spent in the offseason on the likes of Jim Thome, Orlando Hudson, J.J. Hardy and, eventually Joe Mauer, will still be underdogs to reach the World Series. So as far as the state’s professional sports teams in this state winning a championship goes, we might just have to pin our hopes on our WNBA franchise. And, unlike, the Wolves, Wild and Twins, the Lynx might even be favored to win a title this year. They finally got Lindsay Whalen back where she belongs and two-time All-Star Seimone Augustus, the league’s all-time leader at 21.1 career points per game, is supposedly healthy following surgery on a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Add those two to Candice Wiggins and that’s one deadly backcourt, probably the best in the league. Say what you will about the WNBA, with it’s unpopularity, folding or relocating of franchises and dwindling fan bases, Minnesota might just have the best team in the league this year — a team good enough to bring a winner to title-starved Minnesota. Then, officials in the Twin Cities can use all that confetti they had stockpiled for a Vikings parade at a Lynx parade.